


The Title

by printfogey



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-22
Updated: 2012-03-22
Packaged: 2017-11-02 08:52:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/367183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/printfogey/pseuds/printfogey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luffy can't say something and not mean it - and he can't mean that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Title

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: Originally written for the pairing comm dualcaptains on Livejournal for Usopp's birthday. The setting is any time after Enies Lobby.
> 
> Constructive criticism - nitpicks included - and other comments very welcome.
> 
> Disclaimer: The characters of One Piece belong to Eiichiro Oda. They are used here without permission for entertainment purposes only. This fanfic is not to be used for profit.

There were some things he could do and others he couldn’t; there were some things that were easy to say and others that seemed unnecessary to say and then some he could never say and mean at all. Not even in secret; not even inside his head where no-one could hear it. Not even without any words.

Because then he wouldn’t be who he was, would step aside and turn into someone else. And that was just impossible. And maybe sometimes he held Usopp a little closer and laughed with him a little more and kissed him a bit more often just because there were some things he couldn’t do and say, even if those things would have made Usopp very happy.

It was one thing what he’d told that sneaky bastard fake butler guy who didn’t know squat about what being a pirate and a captain meant. That had all been true. That stupid pretend-butler with his stupid little plans really didn’t stand a chance against Usopp in the things that mattered, could never hope to match him. Not that Usopp had been around to hear Luffy say that part. But Luffy had somehow always figured that his sniper knew all that stuff anyway. 

Because for sure Usopp knew he had the blood of a pirate and the heart of a pirate. Right? He must know that! And he knew about striving for his dreams and going out for adventure and about the duty of a captain to look after his crew. Those things went without saying. (Which Luffy supposed was a good thing because they would probably sound pretty silly if you started to talk about them just like that, like when you were fishing or stealing cookies or just hanging out or whatever.) Luffy had always used to feel sure that he and Usopp saw life in so much the same way and knew each other so well that Usopp would be sure to know all that stuff as well as he did. But maybe, Luffy thought sometimes these days, maybe Usopp didn’t know that he knew it.

Maybe the person that Luffy couldn’t become, the one who _could_ say that word and mean it, maybe he would have been a nice and happy and perfectly fine Luffy who could keep Usopp smiling all the time and never run the chance of losing him. But it wouldn’t be _him_ , wouldn’t be the real Luffy. He couldn’t even pretend to step aside, not when it came to something like that. Still, out of all his crew, Usopp was the only one who could make him – not wish he was different but sometimes just _wonder_ what it would be like, if he’d happened to be that someone else. 

And sometimes he’d even wonder what Usopp would think, if he ever met someone like that, someone who’d be just like Luffy except for that one thing. And if – if that could ever happen, maybe then Luffy ought to be the one to step aside and give Usopp over to that other almost-Luffy person. 

That thought made him feel angry, like he wanted to punch that guy in the face even though he might not even exist – which was reeeeally stupid – and he felt a bit sick too. But maybe that would still be the right thing to do. To yield his claim to someone who could look at the sniper and call him his captain – and mean it.


End file.
